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American Jennie Reed won gold in the keirin on Saturday during round three of the UCI Track World Cup in Manchester, England. Reed, of Kirkland, Washington, fourth in yesterday’s women's sprint, beat Susan Panzer (Germany) and Daniela Larreal (Venezuela) in the keirin to take the first gold medal of the event for the United States. ResultsWomen500 meter time trial1. Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned) 35.1892. Yonghua Jiang (Chn) 35.3103. Victoria Pendleton (GB) 35.4993000 meter individual pursuit1. Katherine Bates (Aus), 3:35.352, beat 2. Emma Davies (GB), 3:42.768; 3. Hanka Kupfernagel (G), 3:43.275,

Museeuw revisits the pavé he knows so well after three wins in the Hell of the North

Defending champ Van Petegem test-drives the cobbles

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Regarding ManzanoEditors,The current situation in cycling has gone from bad to worse, and notjust because new allegations of drug use have surfaced.If true, these revelations are certainly shocking, more for their boldprevalence than any "I can't

The Olympic aspirations of Britain's top cyclist David Millar could be under threat after he was directly implicated Friday in the doping scandal which has engulfed France's top team Cofidis. A potentially damaging report in L’Equipe newspaper claims that Millar, the world time trial champion who will bid for Olympic track gold in the Athens velodrome this summer, has been actively involved in doping and works closely with a shady doctor from the Spanish Euskaltel team. The Cofidis doping affair was exposed in January when police, who had for months tapped the phones of several team

Johan Museeuw seeks a record-equaling fourth victory in the Paris-Roubaix classic on Sunday, knowing that most of his rivals come from within his own Quick Step-Davitamon team. Victory would put Museeuw on a par with compatriot Roger de Vlaeminck, the only man to have conquered the cobblestones of "The Hell of the North" four times. Apart from last year's winner, Peter Van Petegem, Musseuw's leading rivals will be familiar faces. Belgian hopeful Tom Boonen, winner of the Ghent-Wevelgem classic this week, Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi, 2001 winner Servais Knaven from the Netherlands and

If it’s on the Internet, it must be true. So, when a recent “What’s ahead on VeloNews.com” item listed “Notes From the Road with Bryan Jew” as a regular Friday feature, one thing was painfully obvious to me. I’d failed in an attempt to make the VN.com editor forget about my column by going into hiding for a month. And sure enough, it was confirmed when the “Are you doing a column this week?” e-mail hit my in-box the other day. So, after a four-week hiatus, I’m back. No truth to the rumors that I’ve been in rehab to kick a junk-food habit. In fact, for part of that time I was off at Redlands,

American track rider Walker Starr has been prevented from taking part in round three of the UCI Track World Cup Friday in Manchester, England, after an abnormal result from a random blood test, according to official sources. Starr, from San Diego, had been scheduled for the scratch race. He has been barred from competition for 15 days, in accordance with UCI rules. Pre-competition or random blood tests focus on a rider's hematocrit level (the volume of red blood cells in the blood); a reading over 50 is an indicator, although not proof, of the use of banned blood boosters. Thirty five

Bobby Julich (CSC) was back in the spotlight Friday at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco after nipping compatriot Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) by less than one second to win his first race since 1998. Julich was ecstatic with the narrow victory on a technical, rain-slicked 8.5km course that featured a short, steep climb in the rugged mountains of northern Spain. “It’s unbelievable. What a comeback in less than a couple of months,” Julich said after covering the course in 11 minutes, 57 seconds (42.62 kph). “The moment I signed with Bjarne Riis I knew this was possible. This feels really good.” Russian

France's top cycling team, Cofidis, will not be entering any more races for the foreseeable future, beginning with Sunday's Paris-Roubaix classic, the third race in the 10-leg World Cup. Cofidis is battling a series of doping allegations, and press reports in Friday's newspapers only served to further put the team in the mire. Today, the team's sponsor, credit company Cofidis, issued a statement that said in part: "In the face of the seriousness of recent allegations, the Cofidis company has decided to take some time out to reflect on the current situation. As a consequence, as of today and

With 4 to 8 inches of snow expected to fall over Boulder, Colorado, between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, the Colorado Roubaix road race has been rescheduled for late May. The tough event, which features a rolling, 17-mile loop circumnavigating washboard dirt, paved and gravel roads around the Boulder Reservoir, was being billed as the stateside race most closely resembling a Paris-Roubaix-style event. Scheduled one day before the European classic, the race was expected to draw Colorado-based members of Health Net, Ofoto, and TIAA-CREF-5280, and many in the area’s elite-level

Bradley McGee signaled his intentions to better his Olympic bronze medal from four years ago when Athens comes around by scoring a comprehensive World Cup win in the 4000-meter individual pursuit Friday night in Manchester, England. The Australian, who rides with the French professional road team FDJeux.com, finished nearly seven seconds ahead of Sergi Escobar Roure in the final with a time of 4:19.696. Great Britain's Paul Manning won the ride-off for bronze against Russian Alexander Serov. The event was McGee's only chance of staking his claim to a spot on the Australian Olympic team

Menchov rinses off with a little bubbly

L'Equipe faces a lawsuit over today's coverage

While working on a story this week about Webcor Builders women’s team rider Christine Thorburn for our upcoming VeloNews issue No.7, I dialed up Quark’s Lyne Bessette to get a comment or two about Thorburn’s surprising third-place overall finish at Redlands. And along with getting the quote material I was looking for from the recent Redlands winner —“I was impressed by her amount of fight,” Bessette said of Thorburn’s second-place finish on the Oak Glen climb. “I knew that she was a good climber, but I was surprised that she could hang on that long.” — what surprised me was the voice that

Poke around our sport a bit and you’re sure to find a handful of ex-pro’s still making a healthy living as shills… er… spokespersons for a particular product. Sometimes, like George Foreman pitching his line of “Double Knockout” grills, many of the cycling spokespeople know (or care) little about the product they’ve associated themselves with (no offense George). Still, even if you throw out the long list of “big time” names connected to product solely to make a quick buck, you’ll get a healthy list of riders who are seriously committed to improving the sport and bettering a particular

Scots cyclist Graeme Obree has abandoned his bid to reclaim the world hour record held by England's Chris Boardman. Obree, who held the record before Boardman set his mark of 49.441km under new rules in 2000, told AFP of his decision after a test ride on Sunday at the Manchester velodrome suggested he was too far away from record-breaking fitness. Obree, 38, has been retired from top-level cycling since 2001. He called off Sunday's test after 12 minutes in which he averaged 47 km/h, significantly below the pace required to break Boardman's record, established on the same track on October

Four American racers were poised to jump into contention for the overall title at the demanding Vuelta al Pais Vasco going into today’s challenging climbing stage to Lekunberri, won by Denis Menchov (Illes Balears). Floyd Landis (U.S. Postal Service) and Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) started Thursday’s stage in the select group of 20 riders tied with the same time as leader Alejandro Valverde (Kelme). Bobby Julich (CSC) and Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) sit just eight seconds out of the lead going into the climb-riddled stage, which features a long Category 1 climb that tops out just 3km from the

Denis Menchov, a quiet Russian on the Illes Balears team, ruined the party for the hometown heroes of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team in Thursday’s decisive climbing stage in the Vuelta a Pais Vasco. Menchov punched the accelerator with 500 meters to go up the short but steep Category 1 Alto Azpiroz climb near the finish of the 182km fourth stage to quickly drop David Etxebarria (Euskaltel). The Russian didn’t look back as he crested the summit and hammered the final 3km to the finish line to score his second stage win this season and seize the overall lead. Menchov, the best young rider of the

Germany's Jan Ullrich said Thursday he is happy to amble along at the back of the peloton in preparation for his main challenge of the year - facing Lance Armstrong during what is bound to be an unmissable Tour de France in July. Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who returned to form with another runner-up finish behind Armstrong last year, is taking part in this week's Circuit de La Sarthe race with no ambitions of winning stages or the race itself. While 32-year-old Armstrong has increased his training load ahead of the July 3-25 showpiece, during which the American U.S. Postal rider will bid

Herbold can not only handle a bike better than most, he can also tell the guys in engineering how to improve it

To Herbold, the nuts-and-bolts of suspension can be the most fun

Tomac isn't afraid to do a little hands-on work to improve product

Obree in 1995 after winning the individual pursuit at world’s in Colombia

CSC's Bobby Julich is among four Americans contending for the overall in the Basque Country

Menchov celebrates his stage win

Ullrich is content to build slowly toward his date with Lance Armstrong

Ludovic Turpin gave France its second winner in two days at the Circuitde la Sarthe as the Ag2r rider held off a pair of Aussies to win the secondstage.Two riders -- Yuryi Kristvov (Ag2r) and Luis Sanchez (Liberty Seguros)– went on the attack early on to build up an eight-minute lead. Kristvovwas reeled in with just 5km to go to set up the sprint.Franck Bouyer (La Boulangere) retained the overall lead after finishingsafely in the main pack that came into Montreuil for a mass gallop. Turpinedged Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) and Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros), whocame through third. American Fred

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It would have been a shame, really, if it had ended any other way. After treating the local fans to a display of power in the 66th running of Ghent-Wevelgem in Belgium on Wednesday, the Quick Step-Davitamon team turned to its young gun Tom Boonen to close the deal. The 23-year-old did so magnificently, continuing his rise to stardom by outfoxing a group of seasoned sprinters including Magnus Backstedt (Alessio-Bianchi) and Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R), who finished second and third respectively.

The troubled Kelme team hopes winning will help erase the bad memories of the past few weeks. The Spanish team brushed off recent doping allegations by ex-rider Jesus Manzano and won Wednesday’s third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country and bounced back into the overall lead. First-year pro Carlos Zarate held on during an epic solo move to win his first pro victory while Alejandro Valverde, winner of the opening stage, shot ahead of the peloton to claim second and recapture the overall lead. “I still can’t believe I won,” said Zarate, who held a nearly two-minute lead over the Category

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.What? Huh? Hey, that's pretty good!Editors,Holy crap!Is he for real?It's like Jack Kerouac on wheels. “On the road...” with AgnettiSheldrake? (see “YoungGuns: "It's all just so caray-zee"”)Pretty good stuff. Keep it coming.Tim McDonaldRichmond,

SUN VALLEY, ID – Scott USA announced its return to theUSA in the coming months and offer a full line of bicycles and selectedcycling accessories for the 2005 model year. Beat Zaugg, President of ScottSports Group said, “We have always wanted to return to North America. Wefelt this was the perfect time as our bicycle line has been extremely wellreceived for years and is already sold in some 37 countries around theworld. We have been getting many requests from enthusiasts in the UnitedStates asking to purchase our cycling related products. Our brand is verystrong but we did not have the right

Map Gent-W 04

cobbles

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Hincapie is ready for Sunday

Wind early in the day set the tone for the entire race.

Are you getting a theme here?

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